Re: A Closer Look at Anthony Davis
Gonna say something that people will hate, but that's ok.
If I were Chris Grant, I'd offer Kyrie Irving straight up for the number 1 pick (and only Kyrie, wouldn't throw in a pick or anything). The reason is this: Centers are so rare and valuable that when a chance comes along to snatch up a true franchise C, you have to take it. Furthermore, as good as Kyrie can be, I think Davis can be better.
Now is it a risk? Sure. But I think it's the same type of risk the Colts just took by releasing Peyton Manning with the plan of drafting Andrew Luck. Luck LOOKS like a can't miss prospect, but he can still miss.
That said, Grant will never do this and even if he did I'm not thinking there are to many teams that would take the deal anyway. Only way is if a team that already has a franchise C gets the number 1 pick. But, that team doesn't exist so I don't see a team trading away that pick, even for Kyrie Irving.
Yeah, I'll take this opportunity to vehemently disagree with you.
First, Kyrie Irving is 20 years old, he's a rookie. He's not a 10+ year veteran, nearing the end of his career, coming off of neck fusion surgery.
In terms of prospect lore, Anthony Davis isn't close to Andrew Luck. First, he's projected as a Power Forward. I'm not saying it's impossible he'll be a long-term Center, but currently, he's a power forward. While showing great ability to play defense, NBA defense is extremely different than what they play in college. I'm not saying he won't be an excellent defender at the next level, I just think his defensive abilities are being romanticized a bit. Multiple DPOY? Can I watch him guard a Rose/Boozer pick and roll a few times first? For him to develop into a truly great defender, he's going to have to find himself in the right situation, with the right coach, just like any other all-time great defender.
Offensively, he has tools. He has the skill-set and the size. But we don't know if he has the natural offensive flow you'd expect from a "future superstar". It will be 3-5 years before you know if he has that ability. He's a freshman in college. There is a level of unknown there that is no longer there for Andrew Luck, or Kyrie Irving.
I am trying to be careful, while not wanting to diminish Davis as a prospect, I don't think you can realistically compare him to Luck as a prospect, nevermind the cross-sport issues.
Bringing Irving into the equation, he has shown elite offensive ability consistently against elite competition. He showed extreme dominance in his short college career, something that Davis hasn't really matched(he's been awesome, but has not displayed the effortless dominance that Kyrie displayed at Duke.) If you extrapolated Irving's 11 college games into a full season and matched it against Davis' production at Kentucky, considering all normal factors scouts consider, I think that most rational scouts would put Kyrie above Davis, a full tier above him, in-fact.
Add to that the fact that Kyrie is already an infinitely more proven commodity(sometimes people say this negatively to try and diminish performance in the interest of potential). When I say that, I also mean he is a more proven commodity than Davis relative to measuring both of them against superstars.
I just cannot find any string of logic to be able to agree to trade Kyrie Irving in any scenario at the moment.
That being said, Davis is the clear-cut #1 for a reason. He has the size, skill, and tools. He's shown enough to the point where it's no longer a question of if he will be a good pro, the question now turns to how good. I don't think he's a lock to be an elite defender and dominant scorer, but I think he's pretty likely to be really good at one and pretty damned good at the other. I'm not convinced he is a lock to be an offensive force yet, but he at least has a chance, which is often all you can ask for with most young big-men.
